Gone in an instant

Chapter 8: Thursday, 9:30 PM

The city was spectacular. I hope I'll be able to return to it one day so that I can appreciate it fully. Charlotte was asleep on the other side of the car. I wasn't sure if I should wake her up or not to see the city, but then I remembered how she always said she wanted to see big cities so I woke her up. I admired her look of childlike wonder as she gazed on the city.

My Dad spoke, “We're almost there. When we get there you guys can stay at the car, I'm going to go inside and try to negotiate. Josh, be ready to make a quick getaway in case we have get out in a hurry. We'll go from there. Sound good?” I nodded, I glanced at Charlotte, I could see the fear in her eyes. I put my hand on her shoulder, “It's gonna be okay. I know it will. Thank you so much for coming. It really means a lot to me.” She pulled me in for a hug. It was the best hug I've ever had. I felt, safe, for that brief few seconds, I felt safe, and calm, and happy. As we separated she blushed and I felt my cheeks get hot too. We had admitted that we liked each other a while ago, but I figured she'd moved on. It had been a year since I had last seen her. I guess not. This news immediately cheered me up.

She glanced away and began to marvel at the city, but it quickly turned into a more industrial area with tons of warehouses. Most of them looked abandoned or untouched. We exited the highway and began weaving through the different streets and parking lots of the warehouses. I grabbed the middle seat and pulled a little leather strap from the top of it that made it able to be pulled out. I pulled it so that I could reach into the trunk. This grabbed Charlotte’s attention and she asked, “What are you doing?” I reached in and maneuvered one of the gun bags out. I don't think she recognized what it was because she gave a confused look and asked, “What is that?” I opened it up and pulled the gun out. Her expression changed from bewilderment to fear and surprise. “Holy cow.” She squeaked.

I started grabbing out magazines for the gun and putting them in my pants pockets, then I loaded on in. I had used an M4 a few times at a friends house I knew how to operate it and I must say I had a killer aim. I pulled out all three Glocks from my backpack and loaded those. “Take this.” I said, and handed one to Charlotte. She looked confused and scared. “No-I-no.” She stumbled out. “Trust me, you'll need it.” I said, trying to sound reassuring even though I was just as scared. She hesitated, then grabbed it. “O-okay.” I tried to give a reassuring smile but I'm pretty sure it failed because I was pretty scared too. My dad pulled up to a particularly abandoned looking warehouse and said, “We're here.”

He left the keys in the ignition and got out of the car, walking toward the warehouse. I quickly got out of the car and crouched beside the drivers door, which was facing away from the building. Charlotte slid across the back seat and then crouched next to me. She gave me a warm and reassuring smile and I'm pretty sure that the entire world brightened when she did so. I gave her one back, and then we waited...and waited...and waited. I'm pretty sure that only ten or so minutes went by it seemed like eternity.

Charlotte looked at me and said, “My legs are cramping up, I need to stretch them.” She stood up and started to stretch a little bit, but there was a loud “Bang!” and she dropped to the ground terrified. I was startled too, but relieved it wasn't her who had been shot at, or gotten hit. “Are you alright?” I asked anyways. “Y-yes. A bit frightened but I'm fine.” She answered. Then I heard running and my Dad yelling “Let's go! Let's go!” I opened the door and put the car in drive, my dad jumped into the passenger side and Charlotte was already in the back. I hit the petal hard and we sped off down the parking lot. I heard a few more gunshots but none connected with their target. Thankfully. “Charlotte are you okay?” I asked, I looked in the rear-view mirror and saw her nod. Fear was apparent on her face. I focused on the road, I was going almost 90 miles an hour.

I wove through side streets until we emerged in a nice little neighborhood. We found a local park and stopped there. “Alright, what happened?” I asked my Dad. “I'll tell you guys in a second. Josh, take your back-pack and Charlotte grab your purse and go sit down. I need to collect my thoughts real quick.” I listened to him and we went and sat down a bench. I looked back at the car, and my eyes widened in terror. It was gone!